ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday proposed giving public schools a one-time additional $50 million to spend on school safety, but his plan falls short of the increased counseling resources school officials want after four people were shot and killed at Apalachee High School in Winder in September.
The $50 million would be added to the current state budget atop $109 million in continuing funding that schools are already receiving. That money was placed in the continuing budget beginning July 1, the first time Georgia’s public schools have gotten ongoing funding instead of one-time safety grants.
“All of these investments were planned with the goal of making our schools even safer,” Kemp said, adding he believed that without the funding the state has already provided, “that fateful day could have been even more tragic” at Apalachee.
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The Republican governor said the $50 million would give each of Georgia’s more than 2,000 public schools another $21,635 to spend on safety, atop the $47,125 they’re already getting.
The governor also proposed that the state boost funding on school psychologists by $872,000. That would provide an estimated 16 more school psychologists statewide, or one for every 2,420 students.
Kemp and other Republicans have shied away from trying to regulate children’s access to guns, although state Rep. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat, introduced a bill Monday to make it a misdemeanor to not secure guns around children.
State school Superintendent Richard Woods and educational advocacy groups have been seeking spending on counselors and mental health clinicians to intervene with students before they become a threat to themselves or others.
Woods wants more spending on the state’s Apex mental health program, which pays for mental health services for students. That program is currently voluntary and serves only about a third of Georgia’s schools. Woods, an elected Republican, also called for direct funding of crisis alert systems and police officers in every school.
When Kemp and lawmakers agreed on the $109 million in school safety spending last year, they said they wanted the money to pay for at least one security officer at each school. Local superintendents have said the full cost for a school resource officer is significantly higher.
A group of educational associations wants more spending on school counselors and school social workers as well as psychologists. The American School Counselor Association recommends one counselor for every 250 students, while Georgia state funding pays for one counselor for every 450 students. The educational groups want to fund one counselor for every 400 students, costing an estimated $26 million more annually.
Boosting the number of social workers so that each school district has enough state funding for one person would cost an estimated $1.7 million. The groups also requested the increase in spending on psychologists, but it was the least expensive item.
The governor said he supports Apex, but said it’s difficult to find licensed counselors and other professionals. “I’m open to all of the above,” he said of such funding. But if Kemp doesn’t recommend the spending in his proposed budget, lawmakers would have to shift dollars from elsewhere, because Georgia’s governor sets an overall limit on how much lawmakers can spend.
Woods said he wasn’t giving up on his proposals.
“The process has just started, and we’ll continue to engage,” Woods said. “But anytime we see additional money like that, we’re very pleased.”
Kemp said he also wants to fund crisis counseling training by the Southern Regional Education Board for 20 counselors from public schools and colleges.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and House Speaker Jon Burns, both Republicans, said they support Kemp’s plans.
“These grants will provide the flexibility and discretion needed to fit the unique needs of every school in every corner of our state,” said Burns, of Newington.
Jones renewed his call for a law mandating wearable panic buttons for teachers and school employees. Burns reiterated his calls for a program of information sharing among education, child welfare and juvenile court agencies in hopes such data will help officials better assess threats from students. He also repeated his call to earmark fines from automated school zone speeding cameras for school safety.
